SUMTER --- It was seemingly appropriate that when the John Rateree Memorial Most Valuable Player award for the 2016 South Carolina American Legion State Tournament was presented, Kershaw County infielder Josh Hernandez was on the receiving end of the plaque.

SUMTER --- Six days after having extended their season with a pair of play-in game wins, Kershaw County Post 17 used William Cobb's two-out RBI single in the bottom of the 10th to keep its state championship dreams alive.

SUMTER --- All summer long, Will Abbott has been hamstrung by a request from The Citadel baseball coaching staff that their incoming freshman only pitch five innings per week for the Kershaw County American Legion baseball team.

SUMTER --- Having been used sparingly --- to the tune of eight innings pitched in Kershaw County's first 21 games of the season --- Post 17 head coach Tyler Pike did not know what he would get from Brandon Dow who was sent to the mound to face Rock Hill in Saturday morning's first game of the South Carolina American Legion State Tournament.

The Kershaw County Post 17 American Legion baseball team will make its second state tournament appearance in three years after the locals swept both play-in games held at Florence Legion Field on Wednesday night.

Kershaw County Post 17 will return to Conway on Wednesday to complete one game and, hopefully, win a second contest in its quest to earn a spot in the South Carolina American Legion Baseball State Tournament.